The idea

I always wanted to go out for a trip, away from the commotion of the city, a place where there’s no need to study, do assignments or complete my practical record. It was my classmates Pavan & Shreyas who had planned a weekend holiday in Dharmasthala. But due to some problems, I could not make it. But, my friend Mahesh suggested that we could still go to Dharmasthala on another weekend. Even though, I wanted to see Mangalore as well, because of the time constraint, we had to limit our trip to Dharmasthala alone. Thus, we decided to leave to our destination on the 3rd of January (Friday night) and return to Bangalore on the early morning of Sunday, the 5th of Jan.

The preparation

Nothing much was required. After all it was a 1-day trip. But my kit bag was filled to the maximum capacity. I carried with me, an extra set of dress, vests and briefs, a monkey cap, a sweater, walkman, a pen and a book for recording the events, a Swiss knife, fruits, chocolates, biscuits, water, torch, and cash (of course!!). Sharath dropped me to Gangenahalli, where I joined Mahesh. It was around 8:15 pm. We both went to the KSRTC bus stand by bus, inquired about a deluxe bus (we had not booked any ticket in advance). A ‘Rajahamsa’ ultra deluxe bus was to leave for Dharmasthala at 9:30. After purchasing a roll for Mahesh’s Canon camera, we boarded the bus. The bus left, in a short while, to Dharmasthala. There began our trip.

A bit of History

Dharmsthala is of religious interest in the interiors of Dakshina Kannada. An outstanding example of religious and cultural tolerance where charity is a way of life, extended to all without discrimination. Lord Manjunatha temple is a famous pilgrim center. Sri Dharmasthala that is one of the sacred places in South India is well known to all pious people. It is situated in the village of Dharmasthala, in Beltangady Taluk of South Canara district.

The History of this place says that, one day the guardian angels of Dharma assumed human forms & riding on horse & elephant, with their retinue in regal pomp & divine glory came to Nelyadibeedu. Ammudevi Ballathi & her husband received the visitors with joy & respect. The angels were so pleased with the welcome & charities that they said "Pergade (Pergade-Heggade) we are attracted by your pious conduct & charities. Offer this Nelyadi Beedu to us & build another house for yourself nearby & worship us in this Beedu & we will see that your wealth & charity be unbounded." Thus they blessed & vanished. It was then that Pergade & his wife were aware that their guests were not mortal beings but divine visitors who had chosen to test them. From that day they begun propitiating them by putting up a swing cot & burning lamps & incense in their Nelyadi Beedu. They built a separate residence for themselves nearby.
Thereafter the divinities appeared to the couple in their dreams & commanded thus "We are powerful Daivas we are Kalarahu, Kalarkai, Kumarswamy & Kanyakumari, you must built separate Shrines for us at places pointed out by us. You must hold festivals at appointed times, you must choose for us two mediums of Nobel birth so that we may speak our will to them. Our commands will be carried out vassal Annappa. You must appoint four worthy persons, to help you & see that rituals are strictly observed. We shall reward you & your posterity with health, wealth & longevity so long as you worship us with faith & devotion. We shall spread our glory far & wide & get you abundance of offerings. Therefore see that Dana-Dharma is extended to all equally at all times. We shall back your wishes with support, your word with fulfillment & crown all your efforts with success. Should you act against this behest you shall suffer. Don't be afraid we will protect, be peaceful." So, directed by those spiritually beings that appeared in the effulgent glory Birmanna Pergade & Ammu Devi Ballalthi were overjoyed. They lost no time to build shrines, install idols of Dharma Daivas & hold Utsava, Parva & Nadavali as commanded.
Pergade invited Brahmins for festive offerings, but they refused to come unless Gods were worshipped along with Daivas, Whilst Pergade was grieving over this problem the Dharmadevathas sent their vassal Annappa to bring from Kadri the Lingam of Sri Manjunatha & installed it at the spot in the temple where it now stands. Manjula means pleasing or beautiful, Natha means Lord. Pergade built a temple there on the right side of the shrine of Dharma Daivas where Annappa installed the Lingam, established the performance of the daily poojas & the rituals & the festivals in a befitting manner. The shrine of Annappa faces the Lingam of Sri Manjunatha. Thus in Kuduma, Sri Chandranatha, Sri Manjunatha & four Daivas & Annappa Daiva came to be worshipped simultaneously at different shrines with common festivals. In Nelyadi Beedu, Heggade alone worships his ancestors & the four Daivas.

The journey

The journey was comfortable (that’s why you call it ‘Rajahamsa’). I slept peacefully, whereas Mahesh, who normally doesn’t sleep during journeys, listened to music for hours together. There was a stop first at Kunigal at 11:27pm. We had coffee to beat the cold. The bus stopped there for about 10 minutes. The next stop was at Sakleshpura. This time, we had tea. The bus stopped there for another 10 minutes. Later, I slept. We reached Hassan, I don’t know when. I was asleep. After a nice sleep, the lights switched on. The time was 5:27 am. It was Dharmasthala.

4th January 2003

As soon as we alighted at the bus stop, we walked a long distance to ‘Vaishali’. There are many lodges in Dharmasthala like Vaishali, Nethravathi, Gangotri, Saketha, Gayatri etc. all of them being rivers of India. In Vaishali, there were no rooms. So we walked back to ‘Gayatri’, a lodge near the bus stop. To our misfortune, there were no rooms there as well. Then, we had some coffee. We went back to ‘Sharavathi’, a lodge close to ‘Vaishali’. Thankfully, there were plenty of rooms. We got room no. 463 – topmost floor. It was a small room, with a bulb, a fan and 2 cots, and nothing else. We threw our luggages down, rested for a while, and went out to get our haircut.

Mahesh went to the ‘Harake Mande’ to get all his hair shaved off, whereas I just went to a saloon. It was Mahesh’s strong belief, that it is a must to give some hair to the God, when you are in a holy place. So, I did not want to argue with him. I then joined Mahesh, who was still in the queue. By 7:30 am, we were out. Mahesh, who had plenty of hair a moment ago, was now a ‘baldie’. We had a coldwater bath in our lodge (that too soft water, so the soap wouldn’t go off so easily.). Then, we went to the river Nethravathi by a jeep. The water was very less. Moreover it was dirty, and filled with clothes the people had discarded. It’s a belief that when you wash away your sins, by taking a dip in the water, you must discard your clothes as well. So much for cleanliness!!

We took a few snaps, and returned to the town center by an auto. We decided to go to the ‘darshana’ of Manjunatheshwara. While going to the ‘darshana’, I saw dad’s friend, Mr.Ramaiah. I greeted him, and then continued on our way to the temple. The queue was not so long. We shelled out money for the ‘prasada’ and got the ‘darshana’ of Shree Amma devaru, Shree Manjunatheshwaraswamy and Shree Ganapathy. We had entered the temple at about 9:15 am. We were out by 10:15 am. Last time, when I was here with dad, mom and Sharath, the darshana had taken about 3 ½ hours.

My stomach was growling, so I decided to feed him something. We had ‘poori sagoo’ at a nearby hotel called ‘Akshaya’ next to our lodge. We were quite tired (especially because it was very very hot.) We rested in the lodge for sometime. Until now, I went to only those places Mahesh wanted to go to. Now, we went to places that I wanted to see.

Manjusha car museum

At about 11:25 pm, in the scorching heat, we went to the Manjusha Car museum, a 5-minute walk from the lodge. The ticket for entry costs only 3 rupees. There was about 50 very old cars there – some absolutely splendid having a touch of royalty in all of them. Here are a few cars that I saw there:

· Adler
· Jaguar
· Standard Bell (England)
· Volkswagen (Germany)
· Plymouth (USA)
· Rolls Royce (England)
· Fire Brigade (England)
· Daimler Mercedes Benz (Germany – 1926)
· Nash (USA – 1928)
· Fiat (Italy – 1931)
· Vauxhall (England – 1929)
· Buick 8 (USA – 1937)
· Chevrolet (USA – 1947)
· Renault (France – 1903)
· Lincoln (USA – 1938)
· Desoto (USA – 1949)
· Frazer Pontiac (USA – 1952)
· Packard (USA – 1946)
· Cadillac (USA – 1954)
· Ford car (USA – 1951)
· Morris minor (England – 1948)
· Mercedes Benz (Germany – 1948).
· Ford jeep (USA – 1957)

Apart from these cars there were other items as well:

There were two huge whale jaws at the entrance. They were about 12 feet high

Some General Knowledge about cars like – The first person to own a car in India was Foster of Crompton Greaves in 1897, the First Indian to own a car was Jamshedji Tata in 1901, the longest NH in India is the NH 7 between Varanasi and Kannyakumari (2,325 kms.)

There were ‘bullock carts’ used to carry ‘Kshatriyas’ in Tamil Nadu

There were statues of lions and peacocks

There was a ‘parachute-folding bike’ that was used by skydivers, who used to jump from the planes, sitting on those bikes

There were models of ‘Titanic’, ‘OVR Titanic’ ships

There was also a Fordson Tractor with a crane (USA – 1915)

There was a Hindustan Trainer Aircraft

We left the museum at about 12:00 pm. There were two huge elephants standing near the museum. We took a few snaps of ourselves along with the elephant. Mahesh met a friend there. From there, we went to a park – Lalithodhyana. The park had nothing special in it. There were statues of various Gods like Ganesha, Nataraja kept behind glass showcases. Then there was a small aquarium that had a few fishes like Gouramis, Swordfishes and tiger fishes. We were out by 12:30 pm. The sun made us dizzy and tired, so we decided to spend the afternoon in the ‘cool’ lodge.

The lodge was really cool for the following reasons – there was no power, so no fan; we were in the topmost floor with a sheet above us; there was no water to drink; all I had was a few chocolates with me. We had a nice sleep, with doors open, and our luggages all thrown over. It was 1 pm. We had a bath again. Now, we were getting hot water. We had a few snacks. Mahesh had a nap again. But, I went on roaming around the lodge, which was filled with many photographs. One photo showed the picture of nearly 3000 women getting saris from Virendra Heggade in 1981. There were some abstract paintings and some artwork using glass pieces or bamboo sticks.

At about 3:15 pm (when our stomachs began growling again), we decided to have a snack or something. But first, we went to the bus stand for inquiring about a bus to Bangalore. A deluxe bus was scheduled to leave at 10:30 pm. Then, we had idly-vada at Akshaya, and returned to the lodge, as it was still very hot. We saw our weights in that ‘luck machine’ we find in ‘Majestic’. I was 57 kgs, and Mahesh was 65.5. We also did some shopping for my friends in college who wanted those ‘black threads’, and some dry fruits, sweets etc. We rested for another while at the lodge, had a good sleep, went to the toilet and walked around.

Bahubali statue and the Manjusha museum

At around 5:30 pm, we strolled out for a walk. A cool breeze was blowing, and the weather was absolutely relaxing. It was already 6 pm. We went to the Bahubali statue, situated close to the bus stand. It was on top of a mountain, and we had to walk up 50 steps or even more. Though the ‘Bahubali’ statue was quite small, the atmosphere up there was great. The sun was a big round orange-yellow fruit; greenery was everywhere, which was filled with our fellow-monkeys. We took a few snaps of the sun, elephant statues, and then went on to the ‘mangalarathi’. There was a story of Bahubali, which I read. Not wanting to waste time, we returned back. It was about 6:30 pm. I spotted another Manjusha museum – the one filled with antiques. Mahesh did not seem to be interested in it, but nevertheless, we went there. The museum was simply superb – you should never miss it. You may afford to miss the’darshana’ but you should never miss this museum. There was everything there, mainly regarding the evolution of things man uses in his daily life. These are the few things I saw there:

Statues of various Gods

Preserves of the Indus Valley Civilization

Metallic idols

Ancient writings, the materials they used to write on etc.

Very very ancient coins

Lots of weapons used by the armed forces – these include swords which were 6 feet long, axes which were 2-3 feet broad, heavy weapons that a lay man can never lift and so on.

There was also a dagger called Jambia, a model of which was showed in AXN – Ripley’s believe it or not. It looks like a common dagger. But after stabbing a person, a lever opens two more blades of the dagger (inside the person’s stomach, cutting open his intestines). The dagger is rotated 1800, and then removed out from the stomach, only to ensure that the person is dead completely.

A canon used during wars

Old guns, pistols and revolvers, even those used by the cowboys of Mexico.

Ganjifa playing cards

Folk games

Ivory idols – these were absolutely beautiful

Paintings of Gods

Indian musical instruments – harmonium, tabla, sitar etc.

Domestic articles

Weights and measures

Locks and keys, some the size of a door itself

Lamps, some still working

Ornament boxes – a few were so beautiful, such creativity is rarely seen today

Silver necklaces, a few really huge

Silver girdle belts

Oil paintings of Mysore kings

Silver anklets and bangles

Articles of worship

Lamps and aarthis

Toys and other articles

There was a huge backbone of a whale. I really cannot say how huge it was, but it was certainly more than 35 feet long

A Grandfather clock

Evolution of spectacles – some resembled the night-vision goggles that we have to day in terms of the size

Evolution of pens – a few the size of a seal used in post offices

Evolution of clocks

A big camera, it resembled more like a canon or a missile launcher. It was that huge. It could never be carried around. But cameras today...........that’s what you call convergence

Art work using Belgium glass

Stoves, iron boxes

Fans run by kerosene

A 3-in-one, stove, heater and light, all run by kerosene

Telescopes, Binoculars

Swiss knives

A torch that was around 4 feet long

Medals

Books that were as small as our nails – Bhagavad-Gita, Shakespeare etc.

Western musical instruments

A Giant saxophone

Phones used during world wars

Military wireless sets

Evolution of radio, sewing machines, calculators, typewriters

Field cameras from London

Movie cameras, projectors

Life-like pencil sketches by S.N.Swamy of famous people

Nataraja statues

Lithography

ISRO – PSLV model

INSAT 2C 110 model

Dressing tables

Giant doors with lots of carvings

Gramophones

Gas masks

Intricate carvings on pencils

A muslin sari (6.5m) that could be fit into a matchbox

There was time constraint, or else, we could have spent more time there itself. We were out by 7:30pm. Even Mahesh felt that the museum was really splendid. We went for a stroll. Heggade’s brother’s daughter’s marriage was being held. The decorations, and the lights were amazing. This is what you call marriage. For a moment, we felt as though we were in the 15th century, under a king’s rule. It was around 8:15 pm. We had a ‘special meal’ that was very unspecial at ‘Sree Laxmi Kripa’. But, at least he gave us an ice cream. Then, we went back to the lodge. We packed our luggages. It was already 9 pm. We returned the room keys, looked one last time at the lodge for giving us shelter for the day, and strolled on to the bus top. It was around 9:15 pm.

The return journey

A bus was scheduled to leave to Bangalore at 10 pm. I bought mineral water, and some sweets for the journey. Already it was getting cold. The seats in the so-called ‘Deluxe’ bus were very uncomfortable. Not pushback ones. This was nothing like ‘Rajahamsa’. The bus left at 10:15 pm.
Mahesh listened to some music, whereas I tried to sleep. At around 11:30 pm, I woke up with a splitting headache; a paining neck and back, and my legs were sound asleep. The headache did not go for a long time. But then, there was a stop at Sakleshpura, near Muzrabad fort. It was really really cold outside. I just couldn’t stop the shivering of my body. We had some hot tea, after which, the headache vanished. Then, I was sound asleep in the bus. There was another stop at around 2:15 am. Then, I never woke up again, until lights were switched on. Outside, I could see a thousand gleaming lights, announcing the arrival of Bangalore. It was deserted outside. There were stops at Rajajinagar, and the bus strolled on towards the KSRTC bus stand. Bangalore was a lot cold as well. We reached the bus stand at around 5:20 am. Mahesh, who had already run out of money, borrowed some from me, and went on, bidding me goodbye. Soon 111C came, and I boarded it. RT Nagar was empty, with only a few early morning joggers and some dogs around.
So that was the end of our trip, an educative one for me, and a pilgrimage tour for Mahesh. Our next plan is to Nandi Hills.